This one year prospective multicentre study was designed to determine the incidence of community-acquired pneumonia in adults. It was carried out in primary health care centres and three reference hospitals, located in the 'Maresme' region (Barcelona, Spain) serving a population of 39,733 subjects over 13 years of age. Patients suspected of having contracted community-acquired pneumonia were vi...

Real-time PCR was evaluated as a quantitative diagnostic method for Chlamydia pneumoniae infection using different respiratory samples. Real-time PCR had efficiency equal to or better than that of nested touchdown PCR. This study confirmed sputum as the best sampling material to detect an ongoing C. pneumoniae infection.

Pneumonia is one of the most common conditions encountered by primary care providers. Certain organisms cause pneumonia in particular age groups. For example, group B streptococci, Gram-negative bacilli Escherichia coli in particular) and, rarely, Listeria monocytogenes cause pneumonia in neonates. In infants younger than 3 months, group B streptococci and organisms encountered by older childre...

Molecular diagnostic techniques, such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR), are promising tools for the rapid etiological diagnosis of pneumonia. PCR offers potential advantages over conventional tests for the detection of Mycoplasma pneumoniae, Legionella species, and Chlamydia pneumoniae. For pneumococcal pneumonia in adults, PCR adds little to existing diagnostic tests and is unable to disting...

Short-term reproductive health consequences for women include PID and complications during pregnancy. Up to 40 percent of women with untreated chlamydia will develop PID and, in some cases, may need to be hospitalized. In addition, pregnant women can infect their babies during the birthing process. This can result in eye infections and pneumonia, causing stress and expense for families. Symptom...

David Siscovick, Russell Alexander, Michael Davidson, Maija Leinonen, Siobhan O’Connor, Paul Ewald, Cristopher Meier, Mirja Puolakkainen, James Hughes, and Javier Nieto Cardiovascular Health Research Unit, and Department of Epidemiology, University of Washington; MedStar Research Institute, Washington, DC; National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atla...

Chlamydia species are the causative agents of trachoma, various forms of pneumonia, and the most common sexually transmitted diseases. Although the infection cycle has been extensively characterized in epithelial cells, where the Chlamydia entry-vacuoles avoid fusion with host-cell lysosomes, the cellular immune response has received less attention. Moreover, despite the abundant presence of de...

Chlamydia pneumoniae infection of lymphocytes in blood has been well documented, and it is apparent that control of this pathogen in these cells may be critical in the development of chronic inflammatory diseases associated with infection by this bacterium. The activity of antibiotics against C. pneumoniae in lymphocytes was assessed in this study by utilizing an in vitro infection model with l...